It wasn’t on the original schedule of the National Conference for Media Reform, but Dennis Kucinich agreed to hold a press conference tonight.  Kucinich ran for president of the United States in 2004.  He has indicated that he plans to run again in 2008.

I hadn’t ever before been to to a press conference of a presidential candidate.  I learned of it at the last minute.  I packed my press credentials (the media reform conference granted these to me on the basis of this blog), my video camera, a still camera, a pad of paper and a couple pens and dashed to the designated area.

In his prepared remarks, Kucinich pounced on the issue of media reform.  He demonstrated himself to be familiar with many aspects of media reform and the Internet.  In the not-too-distant future, he intends to hold Congressional hearings on media reform (“for an entire week, if necessary”).  He believes that media issues are among the most important issues facing this country today.  In response to a question I asked, Kucinich said he considers the media reform to be closely related to the possibility of campaign finance reform.  At the point when we have more of the former, he said, we will have the opportunity to implement the latter.  Campaign finance reform should take the form of public financing, he asserted.

He invited those attending to submit their ideas for issues to explore at his media reform hearings.  Foremost among those topics will be media ownership.  In response to a question, he indicated he would also consider re-implementing the fairness rule.

Kucinich is intense and dedicated. He demonstrated himself to be well-prepared and highly articulate on each of the issues he addressed tonight. His presentation, including the question-and-answer period, lasted for one hour. 

I attempted to videotape the entire session, though my videotape ran out with only 10 seconds to go.  I plan to post my video of this press conference on this site in the near future.

The press conference wasn’t limited to issues on media Reform.  President Bush’s intentions regarding Iran were discussed at length.  Bush has drawn up plans to attack Iran.  He has moved naval vessels and bunker buster weapons into the area.  US troops have already moved over the border into and out of Iran, in an attempt to provoke Iran to attack the US. According to Kucinich, all of this (and more) is a premeditated and conscious attempt by Bush to provoke Iran to attack the United States, thereby justifying a full scale retaliation.

According to Kucinich, there has been a monumental change in attitude among congressional Republicans.  Most of them feel that Bush caused them to lose control of Congress.  They fear that Iraq cannot quickly be taken off the table and they fear further that Bush will cause world chaos (and further resentment against Republicans) by provoking an attack by Iran.

Several questions focused on the topic of impeachment. Kucinich is not in favor of impeaching the president, not at this point.  However, if Bush attacks Iran, “all bets will be off.”  According to Kucinich, if Congress brings impeachment hearings, it would be such a distraction to this Administration that there would be no hope that the soldiers currently in the Middle East would be brought home.  He paints the picture as a dangerous and delicate one.  As he emphasized repeatedly, if Bush attacks Iran, all bets will be off and Bush would be impeached, and that effort would be bipartisan.

Several of those attending were upset, claiming that impeachment hearings were the only way to bring out the full extent of the wrongdoing of the administration.  Kucinich made it clear that, in his opinion, Bush has flagrantly violated federal law and the Constitution.  The only reason Kucinich is not in favor of impeachment at this time is because of the delicacy and danger of the Middle East situation.  It would be his intent that Bush will eventually be the subject of proper scrutiny and justice.  Kucinich made it very clear that when he says “Bush,” he means Bush and Dick Cheney.

In the meantime, his best suggestion for getting the Middle East under control is to stop funding the war.  This is not something only Republicans do.  Senators Kerry and Clinton have voted to fund the war eight times out of eight.  John Edwards voted four times out of four to fund the war, before leaving office.  Barack Obama has voted to fund the war each time it has come up since he became a senator.

In short, Congress needs to take back the power of Bush to wage war in order for Bush to stop waging war.